1948 Malayan killings for judicial review

The High Court has opened the case on the alleged “massacre” on a Malaysian rubber plantation 63 years ago. The court is being asked to rule that the British government acted unlawfully last year when it refused to set up an independent inquiry into the case. British troops killed 24 unarmed civilians while conducting military operations to combat the post-second-world-war communist insurgency, also known as the Malayan Emergency. Survivors and close relatives of the men killed at Batang Kali in Malaysia want the killings to be examined by an independent authority. Michael Fordham QC, representing the claimants, told the High Court in written arguments that attempts to ensure accountability “have been obstructed by the British” and calls it “a blot on British colonization”. The 24 villagers were locked in their huts and shot dead before the huts were burned down, Mr. Fordham told the High Court. The foreign secretary and defense secretary are resisting the two-day application for a judicial review, arguing that the decision was reached lawfully. The case continues.